Ortiz shoots down Batavia in crunch time
Nate Ortiz had the ball in his hands at the right time for St. Charles East Tuesday.
"They had been guarding me pretty close," the Saints' senior guard said of the Batavia defense in the schools' DuKane Conference boys basketball game. "I didn't have a very good start to the game."
But Ortiz made the Bulldogs pay at the most critical juncture of the Saints' ultimate 61-53 league victory.
Batavia forward Zack Weber scored 5 consecutive points, the last on a driving score with four minutes and 19 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, to forge what proved to be the only tie of the game at 40-40.
Ortiz, however, had the defining sequence of the game on the Saints' following two possessions, draining two 3-pointers from a combined 49 feet in a 34-second sequence.
Batavia (11-16, 4-8)) would continue its valiant comeback bid behind money 3-pointers from Drew Lutzwig and Jack Carlson.
But the Bulldogs could not overcome the Saints' 10-for-10 free-throw shooting down the stretch on their home court.
"Records don't mean anything in our conference," St. Charles East coach Pat Woods said. "Batavia is better than their record."
"I wouldn't want to play them in a regional," Batavia coach Jim Nazos said of SCE.
"Shooters keep shooting," said Ortiz, who had 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter. "My team wants me to let it fly."
"We always say that big-time players make big-time plays," Woods said of the Ortiz back-to-back 3-pointers. "He's our leading scorer."
The Saints are 16-12 and 7-5 in league play with their fifth win in their last six outings.
Ortiz has already committed to Augustana, the Rock Island-based Division-III power.
St. Charles East post Cody Mitchell, who led both teams with 17 points, will see a familiar face in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin next season after committing to Illinois Wesleyan in Bloomington earlier this week.
Mitchell was instrumental in St. Charles East coming out the gates with 18 of the first 22 points in the game.
"We started off the second quarter with 4 (straight) turnovers," Mitchell said of the Saints' failure to deliver a knockout blow. "You can't do that."
Batavia gradually regained its composure as Jayden Johnson, the Bulldogs' high man with 13 points, had a 3-pointer seconds before the halftime buzzer to reduce the SCE lead at the break to 29-25.
The Saints' five starters, though, would score all the team's points.
Mark Musial had all 9 of his points in the third.
St. Charles East point guard Luke Matheny finished with 10 points, and Jake Champine matched the Musial output.
Weber was in double figures for Batavia with 11 points.
"They are mentally all in right now," Nazos said of his players. "We can't break through right now. I think we're coming close."